A Conversation With San Francisco’s Top Cop

—New in USF Magazine—

“I tell my cops on the very first day that if they think it’s all about this uniform or gun, they joined the wrong police department,” says Police Chief Greg Suhr ’88.

That’s one of the many things he wants you to understand about the SFPD and his experience policing the city he loves.

Suhr manages 1,700 officers in one of the nation’s most diverse cities. He’s also the highest paid police chief in the country.

Movie-worthy moments

His 33-year career with the SFPD is peppered with movie-worthy moments, from hunting “Night Stalker” Richard Ramirez, the serial killer and rapist who terrorized California in the mid-1980s, to helping “Batkid” Miles Scott save both the city and a damsel-in-distress, as millions watched online.

But, Suhr says, it’s the day-to-day policing that gives him his greatest satisfaction.

He shares his biggest challenges, his favorite USF memories, and much more in the latest issue of USF Magazine.